Social Work
by flashwitch
Summary: Clint moves into Stark Tower and reflects on his past, and how nothing really ever changes except yourself. Bullying (not by the team though),inaccurate portrayal of foster care/orphanages, Tony/Clint friendship


**Includes a series of random references to Red Dwarf.**

* * *

It had all come full circle. Clint hadn't thought about the foster homes and orphanages that had housed him in years, especially not that first group home, but as he looked up at the tower, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile a little wryly.

"Come on," Natasha said and tugged gently on his elbow. He adjusted his duffel bag on his shoulder and let her lead him into the building.

"Agent Romanov, Agent Barton. Welcome to Stark Tower," the ceiling said and Clint startled slightly, looking up and around.

"Thank you, JARVIS," Natasha replied, a smile curling up the corner of her mouth.

"If you'll step into the elevator, I can take you to Mr Stark. I believe he wishes to show you your floors himself."

* * *

_Clint dug his heels in, but the social worker tightened her grip on his elbow and tugged him forward. Barney was already a few steps ahead._

_"Come on, kid. It's going to be fine."_

_The sign above the door read: 'The Maria Stark Foundation Home for Orphans and Runaways'. That's what he was now, he and Barney. Their Dad had been drinking and he had driven into a tree and both his parents had been killed. And this was where they were going to live now. He let the woman drag him into the building and hoped that maybe this would be better._

* * *

The elevator slowed to a stop and let them out onto a large floor. It seemed huge and open with its glass walls and minimalistic style. There were workbenches and shelves around the room and Tony was stood in the middle of the space, surrounded by a blue glow. He was manipulating holograms, and there were robots whirring around him. It was like a scene out of some sci-fi movie (and Clint was a big fan of those).

"Hey!" Tony said, noticing them and shutting off the holograms with a gesture. "You're here. Hi. Both of you. Wait, are you two together? Because I did not know this. And if you two are together than power to you, Hawkeye, I mean I wouldn't dare if I were you..."

"We're not together."

"Okay, good. Because it would be a pain to redesign one of your floors for both of you. Especially after all that effort." He grinned at them, sudden and conspiratorial and Clint realised that somehow this man had come to trust them. He'd only met Clint once, and Natasha had told him again and again about how Stark didn't trust her. Had saving the world done this? "Come on, I'll show you the communal areas first."

* * *

_"Hello, you must be the Barton boys!" the man who ran the orphanage had longish dark hair and big eyes. His smile seemed genuine, so Clint attempted a smile back. "Come on, I'll show you the place."_

_The building was nice enough, a little run down but much bigger that Clint's old house, the one he and Barney had lived in with their parents. The man who ran the home took them to a big room where a load of other kids were sitting around long tables. Some of them had books open in front of them, some of them were writing, a couple of the younger kids were playing with toys._

_"This is the dining room. When you're not at school or in bed, you're in here or out back. You eat in here, you do your homework in here, you spend your spare time in here." There didn't seem to be that much to do, but Clint had a backpack with some clothes and some of his toys in it. The man in charge then led them upstairs. "This is the dorm room you'll be staying in."_

_It took up a whole floor of the building with rows of bunk beds and plain sets of drawers. There were a couple of kids sitting on their bunks, but the whole dorm was strangely tidy. Clint's room back home had always been a mess and Barney's was worse. He moved closer to his brother, and Barney elbowed him in the ribs._

_"Looks like a good place," Barney said._

_"Yeah," Clint replied. "I guess."_

* * *

"So, this is the media room," Tony said, spreading his hands and Clint frowned. The man almost sounded nervous. "There's the big screen TV, the digital media library, enough seats for everyone plus friends and family, various games consoles, everything you could need." There was a large open doorway into the kitchen, which filled most of Clint's dreams. It had everything state of the art and still managed to feel classic and homey. In the centre was a large table. "That opens up," said Tony, seeing Clint's gaze. "It can sit up to eighteen, so if we're all here and stuff..." he trailed off and shrugged. "I don't know if anyone cooks, I mean, I can't so if it's up to me it will mostly be take out."

"I cook," Clint said and Tony jumped exaggeratedly.

"He speaks! I was beginning to wonder, Merida."

"What else have you got?" Natasha asked, looking around the room, a bored expression on her face.

Tony, of course, took that as a challenge.

They visited the gym, the shooting range, the Hulk room in quick order, then Tony showed them to the Holodeck and Clint kind of lost his mind.

"Seriously? You seriously have a holodeck?"

"Seriously! It's not as advanced as Star Trek, obviously," he gestured to the blue tinted world around them, "but I'm getting there. I just need to programme some content." Clint reached out and touched one of the holograms that surrounded them, and though he felt nothing, the hologram reacted to his touch.

"Still working on hard-light, huh?" he asked and got a confused look. "Okay, we're using that fancy media room of yours to watch Red Dwarf. Soon."

"This could be good for training," Natasha put in. "And I guarantee that Cap's going to want to play with this."

"Yeah. I was thinking about setting up some 1940's simulations for him, but Pepper talked me out of it."

Natasha smiled a little, and put a hand on Tony's shoulder. Clint raised an eyebrow; that kind of casual contact was a big deal for her.

"Maybe talk to Steve. See what he thinks. He might want something to remind him of home. Just... don't surprise him with it."

They headed to Natasha's floor next. And it was amazing. For a man who claimed not to be a people person, Tony had read Nat perfectly. The entire floor was decorated in muted colours, blues and greens mostly, and it was full of wide spaces and was completely open plan. There was a small kitchen, a large living room (with several arm chairs rather than a sofa), a large master bedroom with an en suite (with a big claw-footed bath as well as a rain shower), a dressing room and a walk in wardrobe, a spare bedroom, an office room (all clean lines and functionality), and a small workout room.

The workout room had a mirror on one wall and a ballet bar. Clint stared. That was something that was part of Natasha. Something she didn'tneed exactly, and often denied herself, but that she loved with her whole soul. That Tony had known that and accounted for it. Clint's respect for the man went up a couple more notches. He was starting to get worried about what his own floor would be like.

* * *

_"You and your brother have the bunks over by the far wall." The bunk bed they were directed too was under a window with a cracked frame, and as far away from the heater as it could be. Clint put his bag on the bottom bunk, and Barney shoved him._

_"You're taking the top," he said and picked up Clint's bag and slung it up._

_"What? Why?" The struts holding the top bunk up looked rickety and when Clint's bag hit the mattress the whole thing shook._

_"Because you're little. You won't break it." Barney put his own bag on the bottom bunk._

_"I'll let you get settled in," the guy in charge said, and Clint suddenly realised he hadn't told them his name. But he didn't want to ask now, it didn't seem like it would be good to ask after the whole tour and everything. "I'll catch up with you after dinner to talk to you about the rules here, okay?" and with that he turned and left the dorm room. Clint hesitated for a minute, then glanced at Barney who was already sitting on his bed, rummaging through the bag of stuff Social Services had let him pack. So Clint climbed up onto the top bunk; he clung to the ladder as the bed swayed. The sheets were scratchy and the blanket was thin and worn. The pillow smelled like throw up and it had strange stains on it._

_Clint missed his room. He missed his bed. He pulled out the stuffed penguin that was his favourite, along with a book, and he curled up, trying to make it feel at least a little bit like home._

_"Hey, look at the retard!" It was one of the kids who had been in the dorm when they'd come in, and he had a couple of others behind him. "Aw, is the baby going to cry? Poor baby! Did mommy dump you here, retard?"_

_Barney got up and crossed his arms in front of the bunk, while Clint just backed up towards the wall. They couldn't get him up there._

* * *

Clint's floor was...

It was...

The living room was decorated in warm earth tones, and was more about texture that colour. It had a large television and an X box, and shelves full of DVDS and games. Tony had a digital media library, but he'd bought Clint hard copy. There was a big deep sofa with cushions and an armchair that leaned back when you pressed a button.

The kitchen looked like it came out of a country cottage with a big Aga and antique looking cabinets and lots of worktop space.

The bedroom was deep purple, with a large bed piled high with cushions and blankets of different shades and materials. There was a poster from his circus days framed on the wall. The carpet was deep and thick and Clint bent down to stroke his fingers through it. The attached bathroom and walk in wardrobe were large and decorated in sea greens and blues.

The spare room was quite big, and still felt as personal as the rest of the floor.

There was also a library room with an armchair and a TV showing a fire and bookshelves all around the room. Most people probably wouldn't have thought that books and Clint went together, but he read constantly. He was cleverer than most people gave him credit for. It was strange that a genius of all people didn't underestimate him.

The final room was a computer room. It was similar to Natasha's office, but it had higher spec machines and lots of shelves, even a filing cabinet.

It was perfect and made just for him.

* * *

_"Mrs Stark. I didn't realise you were coming to visit!" The man in charge rushed over to the woman in the dusky peach dress. She looked way too fancy for this place and had a young boy beside her. "It's an honour to see you as always!"_

_Clint hesitated and edged closer to Barney. The guy said he'd tell them the rules after they'd eaten. But now this lady had distracted him, and dinner was over. Were they just supposed to go back to the dorm? Or were they supposed to wait? He shifted again, and Barney frowned at him. Clint kind of wanted to know the rules. He didn't want to break any by accident._

_"Well, I wanted to know how the latest funding has been spent. And I wanted to see if you needed any more." She looked around, and she didn't look impressed but at the same time she seemed kind. As though she was nice, even though she didn't like being there. The boy just looked bored._

_"Can we go now?"_

_"Tony, this is important. Pay attention."_

_"But Mom..."_

_"Tony."_

_"Fine." He scuffed his foot on the floor and trailed after his mother._

_"Stuck up little prick," Barney said and Clint snorted in agreement._

* * *

Clint met Tony in the media room on the common floor for that Red Dwarf marathon. Clint even cooked dinner for them.

**"You didn't have the right parents? What parents did you have then?"**

**"The wrong parents. My parents."**

"This isn't the first time your family's housed me, you know."

"What?"

"This isn't the first time your family had housed me."

"Are you talking about...?"

"Your mother was Maria Stark? I lived in one of the orphanages for a while. You came to visit on the day I went there actually."

"I did?"

"Yeah. You were a stuck up brat, but your mom seemed nice." Clint grinned and Tony laughed, a little wry.

"I was a stuck up brat. Back then, I had no clue why my mother insisted on doing so much charity work, and why she tried to be as hands on as she could. Which wasn't very. Dear old dad didn't approve."

**"He's dead, Dave. Everybody's dead. Everybody is dead, Dave."**

**"Wait, are you trying to tell me that everybody is dead?"**

"You get that it's not like that now?" Tony said after a few minutes. "This isn't an orphanage or a halfway house, although it should say 'Tony Stark's Tower for Waifs and Strays' on the door. This is for as long as you want."

"Yeah. This is supposed to be a forever home."

"You sound sceptical."

"Nothing is forever."

**"How long?"**

**"Three million years."**

* * *

_"How long do you think we'll stay here?" Clint asked Barney._

_"I don't know, kid. Probably not that long. This is just a dumping ground for kids between new homes."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"I mean, we're probably going to get cool new parents really quick," Barney said, rolling his eyes. "And then we can kiss this shithole goodbye."_

_"Really?"_

_"Really."_

_Another kid nearby started laughing._

_"Wow. You really are new." She shook her head. "You're never getting out of here. Not until you're eighteen, anyway."_

* * *

The other team members moved in one by one, and that was weird. Running into Captain America in the gym or Thor in the kitchen or Banner in the elevator. Clint had never been brilliant with new people. And it seemed to him that the rest of the team had about the same level of social skills. Bruce never seemed sure that he was allowed to talk, Steve was obviously depressed and desperately trying to keep control, Thor just missed his baby brother. It was all pretty sad. And Tony was surprisingly just as bad as the rest of them. He kept trying to press them all into hanging out with him and buying them expensive gifts and Clint just felt sorry for him. JARVIS was arguably the most well adjusted of all of them.

Somehow though, it slowly started to work. Clint kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. For something to go wrong. But nothing happened. Oh, the world was threatened, the city was attacked, but the team stood firm and held together. They started eating together, hanging out together, just being together.

Clint lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling (it was decorated with an accurate depiction of the night sky as see from New York). He reflected on how far he'd come, and how the more things changed the more they stayed the same. Here he was in another Stark home for orphans and runaways. He was trying hard not to get too attached. Because getting attached was a bad idea. Everything he knew told him that.

His communicator chirped.

"Barton, get down here."

"What's up?" he was already rolling off the bed and reaching for his bow. "We assembling?"

"Yep. On a mission to boldly go where no man has gone before."

"You mean...?"

"That's right," Tony replied. "We're introducing Cap and Thor to classic Trek. Get down here!"

"On my way," he said, grinning, already heading towards the door. "Barton, out."


End file.
